Jeremiah

Letters of Jeremiah

This is the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent to the elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.

This happened after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the blacksmiths, and the metalworkers left Jerusalem.

The letter was hand-delivered by Elasah, son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It read:

This is what the Lord God of Hosts and God of Israel says to all those deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:

“Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and enjoy their produce,

marry and have children. Seek wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so they will also have children. Multiply there, and do not decrease.

Pull yourselves together for the good of the land I have sent you to, and pray for its well-being; for its welfare will be your welfare.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners who are among you; do not listen to those among you who dream dreams,

for they prophesy lies to you in my name; I did not send them—oracle of the Lord.

For thus says the Lord: Only after seventy years have elapsed for Babylon will I deal with you and fulfill for you my promise to bring you back to this place.

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the Lord—plans for your welfare and not for woe, to give you a future of hope.

The Lord says: ‘When the seventy years assigned to Babylon are over, I will come to you and fulfill my promise of restoring you to this place. I know what my plans for you are—plans to save you and not harm you, plans to give you a future and hope.’ The Lord says: ‘When you call on me, I will listen.

You will seek and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”

For the Lord says: ‘I will let myself be found by you, and I will gather you from all the nations and from every place where I have driven you; and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

You trust prophets allegedly raised for you by the Lord in Babylon.

But this is the word of the Lord about the king who sits on the throne of David and all the people who live in this city (your kinfolk who did not go into exile with you);

thus says the Lord God of Hosts: ‘I am sending sword, famine, and plague against them. I will make them like rotten figs, so rotten they cannot be eaten.

I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. They will become a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, an abomination, a sign of desolation, mockery, and ridicule among all the nations where I scatter them.

For they repeatedly refused to heed my words when I sent my servants, the prophets. They would not listen.’

As for you, exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to the word of the Lord.”

This is what the Lord, the God of Hosts and the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies in my name: ‘I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes.

This will lead to a curse often used by the captives from Judah in Babylon: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, who were roasted in the fire by the king of Babylon!’

For they have acted outrageously: they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have used my name to proclaim lies, which I did not command them. I know it and have witnessed it,” declares the Lord.

Message to the Samaritans

After that, Shemaiah of Nehelam

sent letters in his own name to all the people in Jerusalem and to Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests saying:

“The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge in the house of the Lord to arrest every mad prophet and put him in chains with an iron collar around his neck.

So why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, a would-be prophet in your midst?

In this role, he sent a message to us in Babylon: You will be there for a long time! Build and live in houses; plant gardens and eat their produce.”

When Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah,

the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:

“Send this message to all the exiles: “This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Shemaiah prophesied although I did not send him, and he made you trust in lies.

Because of that, I will punish Shemaiah and his descendants; none of them will live to witness the blessings I will bestow on my people, for he incited my people to rebel against the Lord.”